Hey There? It's Been a While . . .

Hey guys!

I apologize for not posting recently. It's because I'm very busy lately with all the things that has happened to me. I was very overwhelmed with these things that I pretty much forgot about blogging.

Right now, I had just finished my on-the-job-training (OJT). With this, I have more free time now, which means, . . . more blogging for me! Yey! :)

I have a huge backlog of blog posts right now and I'm trying my very best to get them published sooner than later.

That's it for now, and stay tuned for more!

See you guys later!

(Wait . . . I meant to say see you guys soon, because I'll be posting sooner rather than later. Get it? hahaha. OK, now I'm being corny.)

My Time At Alleycat

My classmates and I decided to have a study group for our incoming exams and projects. We pondered on the places we should meet until we decided that we would have this study session at Alleycat.

Alleycat Sign

Inside the Tea Shop

This cute tea house is quite unique here in Davao City. Aside from the café ambiance that it offers, the place is decorated with art, particularly upstairs. 

Filled with Art

Sorry, my bag is destroying the image.

You will see painted drawings on the walls. Since it is a place of art, the shop also offers drawing and coloring materials for customers to draw their works of art and clip it on one side of the café. The place has also a collection of books for you to read. If you’re observant enough, they also provide board games. Now time for their service.

Vanilla Milk Tea with a Cookie

Milk tea is the specialty of this tea house. At that time, I ordered their vanilla milk tea. They serve the milk tea in a glass jar with a free cookie on the side. You can also order sandwiches and some other snacks like Pepero at the counter.

Counter (sorry for the blurry image)

If you want to check for yourself, check them out at this place:

Door 7, The Site, Davao Central Convenience Store, Jacinto Ext., Davao City

You can also follow them on the following social media sites:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/alleycat.teahouse

Twitter - https://twitter.com/alleycat_tea

See you guys later!

Egg in a Basket (Or So They Say)

I wanted to cook something different last time around. So I searched for new ideas in the internet.

I did see something interesting in youtube. The dish is called "Egg In a Basket". This dish is basically an egg which is placed in the middle of a sliced bread. 

I try it for myself.

My version of it. It still needs work though.

This was amazing! It's creative, enticing, and delicious! I will definitely make this again.

For the recipe, I got it from Laura Vitale, a known youtuber. She has more than 800 dishes in her channel. If you have time, please check her videos. 

Links:

http://www.laurainthekitchen.com/recipes/egg-in-a-basket/ (official site)

https://www.youtube.com/user/LauraVitalesKitchen (youtube site)

Black and White Christmas Party

Before I start, let me provide some background information about this event.

Last year, we decided as a class to have a Christmas Party on our own. Last year was pretty simple. There was dinner, games, and exchange of gifts.

This year, some of my classmates wanted to have a theme and wanted this Christmas party to be over the top, which they did! The theme for this party was black-tie holiday. It would also imply that we should wear our best black and white outfit for this night. This was held in my classmate’s house.

Let the Party Begin in . . . 1 Hour and 30 Minutes!

The party should start at 5 pm. However, it was moved to 6 pm.

I arrived at the venue 30 minutes behind schedule. It was my intention to be late because I know that we will still wait for other late comers and I know that they are still preparing for the party. But when I arrived, there were only a few of us inside! Most of them arrived really late due to heavy traffic and difficulty in getting a taxi. Well, that’s what you expect during the days before Christmas.

While waiting for the others, I took the opportunity to take the pictures of the place.

Welcome sign and menu of the night

Balloon arch

Decorated tables and chairs

Those "pom-pom" thingys (I don't know)

Tags for the photo booth (Yes they thought of it.)

Cookies for everyone!

The actual start of the party was 7:30 pm. Since we were so hungry, we started the party directly with dinner.

After dinner, we had games like “bring me”, “guess the song title and artist”, “daisy apple”, and “pass the balloon”.

Last part of the party was exchanging of gifts.

It was fun! I hope we can have this party again. So guys (I’m referring to my classmates), what would be the plans for the next Christmas party?

See you guys later! May 2015 be a great year to you guys!

Palawan Escapade 2014 (Part 6)

Last Hooray in Palawan!

On day 6, we bid farewell to El Nido. We returned to Puerto Princesa by around mid-afternoon. We then went back to Mercado de San Miguel to buy souvenirs and “pasalubong” for our families. After that, we rested to prepare ourselves for dinner and the Iwahig Firefly Watching.

We had dinner at Bilao at Palayok which is located near the airport. We had a boodle fight type of dinner (where all the food is placed on banana leaves and people will eat them using their hands).  

Entrance

Boodle Fight!

Iwahig Firefly Watching

This would be our last place to visit in Palawan. We hopped on the same mini bus that took us from the Underground River and El Nido. The site for the firefly watching is Iwahig River. We waited for a couple of minutes for our turn. Then the tour started.

Entrance

Waiting Area

I apologize for not having pictures because it’s so dark that nothing comes up. Even a normal DSLR camera will not work also.

There will be a guide that will accompany you and will tell information related to the firefly watching.

Once you’re there, you can see lots of fireflies flashing their natural light. The mangroves that the fireflies live were like Christmas trees! That’s all I can say. That’s how speechless I was.  

This ends our visit in Palawan. I enjoyed every part it. I hope you enjoyed it too. I definitely recommend you to visit Palawan someday. Mark this adventure in your bucket list. You won’t be sorry that’s for sure!

See you guys later!

See other of my Palawan entries:

Part 1: Initial Exploration of Puerto Princesa - https://intro-traveller.blogspot.com/2014/12/palawan-escapade-2014-part-1.html

Part 2: Puerto Princesa Day Tour - https://intro-traveller.blogspot.com/2014/12/palawan-escapade-part-2.html

Part 3: Honda Bay Trip - https://intro-traveller.blogspot.com/2014/12/palawan-escapade-2014-part-3.html

Part 4: Underground River - https://intro-traveller.blogspot.com/2014/12/palawan-escapade-2014-part-4.html

Part 5: El Nido - https://intro-traveller.blogspot.com/2014/12/palawan-escapade-2014-part-5.html

Palawan Escapade 2014 (Part 5)

We arrived at El Nido at night. We dropped our bags in the hotel. I forgot the name of the hotel though. Sorry about that.

Hi fellas!

several shops

Beachfront Restaurants and Bars

They even have a gym!

We decided to walk around a bit to see the nightlife that El Nido has to offer. I must say there are a lot of foreigners that visited this place.

The pizza place

After that, we were finding a place to eat. We arrived at a certain pizza place called Trattoria Altrove (I hope I got it right). Once we entered, we had a shock of our lives. We were the ONLY Filipino customers during that time. After eating, we settled for the night.

El Nido Excursion

Day 5 is mainly about our island hopping tour of El Nido. It is a must if you visit El Nido. There are 4 options that you can try to visit, each offering a different areas to explore. For our case, we chose Tour B which focuses mainly on caves and coves. Without much delay, it’s time for island hopping!

Entalula Beach

This is the first place we visited. This small stretch of beach is surrounded by limestone cliffs. Only a part of the beach is publicly accessible due to a private resort located nearby.

Snake Island

Our boat docked on the sandbar connecting the island to the mainland. This is where Snake Island got its name. There is also a view deck on top of the island so you can view and take pictures of the surroundings.

Cudognon Cave

The beach right next to it would be our lunch stop. But first, we visited its cave. You must enter a small hole to get inside.

Once inside, you’re inside its chamber. A guide that accompanied us said that this cave was once a hiding place during World War II. There used to be artifacts inside but they were handed over to the National Museum.

Cathedral Cave

After lunch, we went to the Cathedral Cave. It is located at Pinasil Island, which is actually a dome-shaped rock. There is a large opening on its side. However, we not allowed to swim because there are a lot of jellyfishes and poisonous snakes down below.

Pinagbuyutan Island

This would be our last stop for the tour. The sand here is powdery white. There is also a small hut located near the beach.  It also has a patch of grass and coconut trees in here. This would be our last chance to dip into their waters.

This marks the end of our Island hopping trip. Once we returned to the town, some of my relatives explored the town proper of El Nido. Here are some of the pictures:

El Nido Town Hall

A parish in El Nido

The remainder of our stay was uneventful.

Stay tuned for the final leg of our Palawan Escapade!

See you guys later!

See other of my Palawan entries:

Part 1: Initial Exploration of Puerto Princesa - https://intro-traveller.blogspot.com/2014/12/palawan-escapade-2014-part-1.html

Part 2: Puerto Princesa Day Tour - https://intro-traveller.blogspot.com/2014/12/palawan-escapade-part-2.html

Part 3: Honda Bay Trip - https://intro-traveller.blogspot.com/2014/12/palawan-escapade-2014-part-3.html

Part 4: Underground River - https://intro-traveller.blogspot.com/2014/12/palawan-escapade-2014-part-4.html

Part 6: Last Hooray in Palawan - https://intro-traveller.blogspot.com/2014/12/palawan-escapade-2014-part-6.html

Palawan Escapade 2014 (Part 4)

Day 4 would be a busy day for us. First, we will explore the underground river. Afterwards, we will travel to El Nido.

Before proceeding to the underground river, you need to secure certain requirements at the city coliseum. However, if you’re on a packaged tour, the agency or whoever is responsible for your trip will be the one to secure it for you. But, this doesn’t apply to everyone so make sure to do research first.

Off to the Underground River

We hopped on a mini bus this time. Our tour guide did a great job in organizing our trip so far. The trip to the underground river took around an hour and a half.

Sabang

Waiting Area

In no time, we arrived at Sabang, the transit point for people who will go to the underground river. We waited at the designated waiting area. It took a long time for us to be called, so we decided to take photos just to kill time.

Once we’re called, we hopped on the boats that will take us to the underground river (well not really though).

We arrived at the drop-off point and took photos of the underground river sign, the surroundings, and monkeys. I must warn you that you should not bring out your snacks and drinks because the monkeys will definitely steal them away from you.

Hello there!

We walked to another waiting area. We took another round of photos as we waited for us to be called.

Entering the Underground River

Once we’re next, we hopped on a boat. We have a guide on the boat to give us certain information on the underground river. What you see inside will definitely blow your mind. (But I won’t spoil the entire tour of the underground river)

"Jesus Christ"

We headed back to Sabang for lunch. Afterwards, we would be heading to El Nido.

See you guys later!

See other of my Palawan entries:

Part 1: Initial Exploration of Puerto Princesa - https://intro-traveller.blogspot.com/2014/12/palawan-escapade-2014-part-1.html

Part 2: Puerto Princesa Day Tour - https://intro-traveller.blogspot.com/2014/12/palawan-escapade-part-2.html

Part 3: Honda Bay Trip - https://intro-traveller.blogspot.com/2014/12/palawan-escapade-2014-part-3.html

Part 5: El Nido - https://intro-traveller.blogspot.com/2014/12/palawan-escapade-2014-part-5.html

Part 6: Last Hooray in Palawan - https://intro-traveller.blogspot.com/2014/12/palawan-escapade-2014-part-6.html

Palawan Escapade 2014 (Part 3)

A Day in Honda Bay!

It’s all about Honda Bay on day 3.

After preparing the necessary things, it’s off to another adventure! We rode on the same rented jeepney together with our tour guide.

Before we arrived at Honda Bay Port, we stopped by a dive shop. We rented snorkels, and underwater shoes. After that we are on our way!

We arrived at the port where you can ride motorized boats (banka in Tagalog) to any destination around Honda Bay. There are different islets and places that you can go to in Honda Bay. We only explored 3 places during our visit. 

Starfish Island

First destination was Starfish Island. This is where we had our lunch. We went swimming after lunch. There are also areas where you can take photos especially the Starfish Island sign and the huge picture frame. 

Pambato Reef Snorkeling

After Starfish Island, we went to a floating platform with a big model of a turtle on top of it. Before we went on snorkeling, we were briefed by a local guide on what or what not to do during our stay as we would be snorkeling on very deep water. Afterwards, we started snorkeling. We were guided by local guides as most of us (including me) don’t know how to swim. It is fun to see different schools of fish swimming around us and different species of corals. However, this activity is so draining. At least the effort was worth it. 

Luli Island

Last stop was Luli Island. The name “Luli” according to our guide is a play of 2 Tagalog words lulubog (sink) and lilitaw (arise). As the name suggests, a section of the island will sink during high tide and will reappear during low tide. This is where we got our last chance to swim around the place.

That wraps it up for day 3. Stay tuned for the next part as we explored the world-famous underground river of Puerto Princesa.

See you guys later!

See other of my Palawan entries:

Part 1: Initial Exploration of Puerto Princesa - https://intro-traveller.blogspot.com/2014/12/palawan-escapade-2014-part-1.html

Part 2: Puerto Princesa Day Tour - https://intro-traveller.blogspot.com/2014/12/palawan-escapade-part-2.html

Part 4: Underground River - https://intro-traveller.blogspot.com/2014/12/palawan-escapade-2014-part-4.html

Part 5: El Nido - https://intro-traveller.blogspot.com/2014/12/palawan-escapade-2014-part-5.html

Part 6: Last Hooray in Palawan - https://intro-traveller.blogspot.com/2014/12/palawan-escapade-2014-part-6.html